


there's no warning when everything changes

by bettycooopers



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, betty cooper is a bitch and i love her so much, in which betty has ideas and archie is losing it, set during 501
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28891971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooopers/pseuds/bettycooopers
Summary: The song sounds different coming from Veronica, so it doesn’t occur to Betty until she hears it:he’s not made for this world, and neither am I.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	there's no warning when everything changes

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY RIVERDALE SEASON! like, holy shit that this happened tonight? here is a glimpse into the convo that i imagine _that look_ should have probably turned into. 
> 
> as per ushe, thanks a million to [becca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/packedyoursaturday), who listened to me scream through this episode and then was like, "where's the fic, cher?" when i couldn't stop talking about the thought that betty could be blood red mad. here, here is the fic.

Betty doesn’t recognize it, not right away. 

Yes, fine, it’s the song that plays in her head sometimes...but it sounds different coming from Veronica, so it doesn’t occur to her until she hears it: _he’s not made for this world, and neither am I._

She sucks in a breath and tries to keep herself still, feeling her lips part and her eyes dart over to Archie who is staring at Veronica, the horror in his expression clear to her and (hopefully) no one else. His eyes fall on hers and her throat tightens – in what, she doesn't understand. It could be rage, it could be heartbreak, it could be both. She can’t keep looking at his face long enough to find out, not with Jughead sitting inches away from her. She carefully shifts her gaze back to Veronica and watches as she sings, swaying slowly with her hands gripping the microphone.

She manages to make it through a bit of pointless conversation once Veronica’s back at their table before she leans over to Jughead and tells him she has a headache. He offers to come home with her, but she shakes her head and smiles, knowing it’s not meeting her eyes, knowing he won’t notice. “Stay, take a night off from sleuthing.” Jughead smiles back, nodding, none the wiser.

She hugs Veronica and ignores Archie before she slips out of La Bonne Nuit, moving out into the Pop’s parking lot and leaning against the side of the building, breathing heavily. She watches as people start filing out, slipping back into the shadows and waiting to see the telltale flash of Archie’s hair. She watches him walk through the parking lot with KO and Veronica and swallows, taking him in while he isn’t looking. She’s been ignoring him, mostly – talking to him enough to make things seem normal, but keeping it limited to group settings. She has his texts on Do Not Disturb, she keeps her curtains closed. They don’t need to rehash what happened between the two of them, not when it’s over – not when she’s sealed the lid on the box that is their non-relationship for the sake of all four of them. 

At least, they didn’t need to rehash it until Veronica started singing the song that was supposed to be for _her._

She feels her ears rushing just thinking about it – the sound of the chords, Veronica’s voice making her blood run cold. Had he even written it for her at all, or had he just repurposed lyrics that were for Veronica, or Josie, or one of the other girls he’s had in his bed? She clenches her fists, settling for the feeling of them tightened rather than digging her nails into her palms – she doesn’t want marks on her hands for prom. 

She watches Archie walk towards his car, taking a step forward and pausing when Veronica calls him back. He looks tired, mostly, but there’s something beneath it – something she’s not going to try to name, because it’s useless to fixate on Archie and his emotions right now. They have bigger things going on, and he’ll get over it. 

He’ll get over her the same way she got over him in sophomore year – she’s sure of it.

She watches as Archie and Veronica exchange terse-sounding _I love you’s_ and waits for Veronica to leave before she makes her way over to Archie’s car and taps on the passenger door with her knuckle. He has his head pressed to the steering wheel and snaps up, looking over at her and paling when he sees her standing there. 

“Can I get a ride?” Her voice is hoarse. 

Archie nods and she opens the door, sliding into the jalopy and crossing her ankles, settling her purse in her lap. He starts the engine, a loud mechanical whir, and she watches as he bites on the inside of his cheek as he puts it in reverse and checks over his shoulder.

They drive in silence for the first few minutes, Archie drumming the fingers of his free hand on his leg as Betty lets herself look at him, really, for the first time in weeks. Her eyes fall over his jawline, firmly set and smooth, down his neck and along his arms, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, fingers wrapped tight. He seems haggard in a way she doesn’t recognize, his eyes bleary and his hair a bit unkempt. She sighs and gazes out at the road. “Did you tell her?”

Archie sucks in a breath and shakes his head, quick. “No, I didn’t tell her, Betty.”

She sets her jaw and folds her arms over her chest. “Then what _was_ that?” Archie pulls over jerkily and Betty frowns, turning towards him. “No,” she shakes her head, pointing out the front windshield. “No, drive.”

“Betty,” he sounds desperate and Betty rolls her eyes. She sighs over at him and raises her brow expectantly. “I don’t know what that was, okay? I don’t...I don’t know how she,” he runs his hand through his hair in clear exasperation. “I knew she found the song. The other day, she found it on my desk...but I threw it out. I didn’t tell her, I just,” he lets his eyes fall and she thinks he must be looking at her legs. She wants to tell him to look _up,_ but she doesn’t – she just stares at him. “She must have dug it out of my trash, or something.”

“Right.” Betty’s tone is hard, even to her own ears. She doesn’t believe him – she can’t. She doesn’t think Archie would just go and _say_ anything about what happened between them, but she can’t imagine he’d just leave something _that_ obvious out in the open for Veronica to find – he’s not _stupid._ “So she just decided to serenade you in front of all of us with a song she thinks...is about her? Or maybe,” Betty lets out a dry laugh, shaking her head, avoiding Archie’s eye. “Maybe it _is_ about her, Arch. Maybe it’s about her, and I was just,” she swallows, stopping herself before she bites too hard.

“It’s not about her,” Archie says, low and serious. He turns in the driver's seat and faces her, his hand reaching out and then snapping back before he can touch her. “Betty, please. It was a _mistake,_ that’s it.”

“Yeah,” she nods, her voice dark. “It was a mistake, alright.” She sees Archie shut his eyes and she sighs out a breath. “Does she think it’s about her?”

“I...we haven’t talked about it, but...a song about carrying a torch for someone? I don’t know.” He opens his eyes and they’re soft. Betty can’t focus on them. She settles on the steering wheel. “I just told her it was something I’d been messing around with, that’s all.”

“Something you’d been messing around with,” Betty repeats, nodding. “Nice.”

“Betty,” he sounds frenzied and she shakes her head. “You’re taking everything I’m saying the wrong way.”

“No, Arch,” she turns in her seat, facing forward and setting her eyes on the road in front of them, “no, I think I’m taking it all perfectly fine.”

“You were never supposed to hear it like that.” His voice is soft, and she feels his hand on her elbow, featherlight. She sucks in a breath and slides away from him as best she can in the passenger seat. “I swear, Betts. It was...it’s _your_ song.”

“I don’t want a song,” she swallows, her eyes stinging. She refuses to reach up and brush at them, she won’t give him the satisfaction. Instead, she uncrosses and re-crosses her ankles. “I want you to take me home and I never want to talk about this, ever again.”

“Betty,” his voice cracks and she sucks in a breath.

“Don’t,” she says, her tone hollow. “Just drive the car, Archie.”

Archie waits a long moment before he nods and turns back to the road, driving them home in silence as Betty stares out the passenger side, doing her best to keep her eyes dry. When they pull into the Andrews driveway, she unbuckles her seatbelt and settles her hand on the door handle, then looks over her shoulder at him. “You can’t tell her, Arch.” Archie nods, and she lets herself meet his eye for once. She feels her own soften immediately and shakes her head. “Let her think it’s for her.”

“I,” he starts, and Betty shakes her head. 

“It’s not my song.” She grips the door handle and feels her knuckles going numb. 

“It is, though,” Archie breathes. He’s quiet for a long moment before Betty sighs. “I’m not going to say anything,” he says, shaking his head. “You know I wouldn’t want to do that to you.”

Betty lets out a soft laugh, pushing the door open and shaking her head, her eyes wet as she looks at him. “I know,” she says, even though she _doesn’t_ know, not really. “I know you wouldn’t.”

She slams the door of the jalopy before he can say anything else, and she doesn’t turn back.

**Author's Note:**

> you can follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bettycooopers) or [tumblr](https://bettycooopers.tumblr.com) if you feel like watching me break down in real time!


End file.
